There is a strong desire today to obtain and/or maintain a youthful appearance. One manner of doing so is to remove (or reduce) wrinkles. Additionally it is desirable to rejuvenate the skin by removing an outer layer of skin. There are known techniques for removing wrinkles by peeling the skin. Also, there are known methods for rejuvenating the skin. Unfortunately, all known techniques suffer from lack of efficacy and risk to the patient.
One known method of skin rejuvenation includes injection of collagen underneath the skin. This has been performed using a bovine collagen injection. For example, microfine collagen has been injected into periocular lines. Some of the problems with collagen injection include, allergy to collagen and lack of longevity. Also, often there is only partial eradication of the wrinkles.
Peeling most or all of the outer layer of the skin is another known method of rejuvenating the skin. Peeling can be achieved chemically, mechanically or photothermally. Chemical peeling is often carried out using trichloroacetic acid and phenol. An inability to control the depth of the peeling, possible pigmentary change and risk of scarring are among the problems associated with chemical peeling.
The mechanical method is called transcutaneous blepharoplasty and involves shaving off the outer layer of skin. Skin resection during lower lid blepharoplasty frequently results in undesirable side effects, especially ectropion and scleral show. Moreover, transcutaneous blepharoplasty rarely eradicates all of the wrinkle lines.
Pulsed carbon dioxide laser treatment is a known photothermal method of removing of periocular wrinkles. However, laser light is heavily absorbed in water and has a very short range in the epidermis. Thus, a high fluence with short pulse durations will evaporate the outer layer of the skin and peels most or all of the epidermis.
The use of CO.sub.2 laser light for skin rejuvenation also has undesirable side effects. For example, CO.sub.2 lasers have small spot size (3 mm or less), and thus their use causes valleys and ridges, particularly when resurfacing large areas. Also, it is difficult to control heat diffusion, and thus the resultant necrosis is difficult to predict and control. Additionally, scar tissue absorbs CO.sub.2 laser light differently than normal skin and thus may adversely impact such a treatment.
Thus, it is apparent there is a need for a new method and device with which it is possible to produce efficient wrinkle removal and skin rejuvenation. This apparatus would preferably be able to control the treatment parameters according to characteristics of the tissue, and be easily tunable. The new method and device would preferably provide efficient wrinkle smoothing and skin rejuvenation with minimal side effects.